Study of morphometric changes of cornea in cases of pterygium

Background: Pterygium is a benign, wing-shaped, fibrovascular growth that originates on the bulbar conjunctiva and can spread to the limbus and beyond, causing morphometric changes in the cornea and affecting visual status. Aim of study was to study the morphometric changes in the cornea in patients with pterygium. Methods: Prospective hospital-based analytical study conducted on 100 consecutive patients with unilateral pterygium for two years. Each patient underwent a complete ophthalmic examination, including evaluation of visual acuity refraction, corneal curvature, corneal endothelial cell density (CECD), central corneal thickness (CCT), coefficient of variation (CV) and hexagonality. Necessary demographic data and variables like age, smoking status and occupation were also determined. The healthy eye was considered as a control. Results: Majority of the study population, i.e. 43%, belonging to the 21-40 years of age group; socioeconomically, maximum cases (61%) were found in class IV with a male preponderance of 53%. 56% of patients hailed from rural areas, and regarding occupation, it was found that 37% of patients were farmers. This study found that the majority of patients (60% of cases) had multiple ocular complaints. There was a significant association between pterygium grade and keratometric astigmatism. Our study found a significant difference between ECD, hexagonality and CV in the normal and diseased eye. CCT was found more in diseased eyes but was significant only in grade IV pterygium. Conclusions: Pterygium leads to deterioration of visual performance by causing refractive and keratometric changes.

Surveillance for risk factors of cardiovascular disease among an industrial population in southern India.

BACKGROUND: We assessed (i) the risk of cardiovascular disease in an industrial population in Chennai, southern India and (ii) whether the status of treatment and control of diabetes and hypertension would be different in an industrial population, which is provided free healthcare, compared with the general population of Chennai. METHODS: Subjects residing in the residential areas of 2 industries (Indian Airlines and Integral Coach Factory) in Chennai in southern India were recruited. The subjects were employees (n = 440) selected by an age- and sex-stratified random sampling method, and their family members (n = 727) in the age group of 20-69 years; a total of 1167 subjects. Fasting plasma glucose, lipid estimations and anthropometric measurements were done in all the subjects. Information on demographic and lifestyle determinants was obtained using a questionnaire. Diabetes was diagnosed using the American Diabetes Association criteria and metabolic syndrome was defined by the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria with modified waist definition for Asian Indians. RESULTS: Age-adjusted prevalence of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease using the 2001 Census of India were as follows: diabetes 11.9%; hypertension 25.4%; dyslipidaemia 40.2%; hypertriglyceridaemia 28.3%; overweight (body mass index > or = 23 kg/m2) 60.2%; and metabolic syndrome 34.1%. Use of tobacco in any form was present in 22.9% of men and 0.5% of women; 79% of the subjects followed a sedentary lifestyle. Among subjects receiving medication, 42.1% of subjects with diabetes and 55.3% of subjects with hypertension had their disease under adequate control. A comparison of these results with the general population of Chennai showed that the industrial population had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in spite of having better access to healthcare facilities. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease was high in this industrial population of Chennai. Although the overall treatment and control of diabetes and hypertension was better than that in the general population, it was still inadequate and this emphasizes the need for greater awareness about non-communicable diseases.

Prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in Chennai--The Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES-52).

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in Chennai representing Urban South India. METHODS: The Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES) is one of the largest epidemiological studies on diabetes carried out in India, where 26,001 individuals aged > or = 20 years were screened using systematic random sampling method. Every tenth subject recruited in Phase 1 of CURES was requested to participate in Phase 3 of CURES and the response rate was 2,350/26,001 or 90.4%. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all individuals except self-reported diabetic subjects. Anthropometric measurements and lipid estimations were done in all subjects. Hypertension was diagnosed in all subjects who were on drug treatment for hypertension or if the blood pressure > or = 140/90 mmHg. RESULTS: Hypertension was present in 20% [men:23.2% vs. women:17.1%, p<0.001] of the study population. Isolated systolic hypertension (Systolic BP > or = 140 and Diastolic BP<90 mmHg) was present in 6.6% while isolated diastolic hypertension (DBP > or = 90 and SBP<140 mmHg) was present in 4.2% of the population. Among the elderly population (aged > or = 60 years), 25.2% had isolated systolic hypertension. Age, body mass index, smoking, serum cholesterol and triglycerides were found to be strongly associated with hypertension. Among the total hypertensive subjects, only 32.8% were aware of their blood pressure, of these, 70.8% were under treatment and 45.9% had their blood pressure under control. CONCLUSION: Hypertension was present in one-fifth of this urban south Indian population and isolated systolic hypertension was more common among elderly population. Majority of hypertensive subjects still remain undetected and the control of hypertension is also inadequate. This calls for urgent prevention and control measures for hypertension.

Validation of body fat measurement by skinfolds and two bioelectric impedance methods with DEXA--the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study [CURES-3].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although Asian Indians have been shown to have increased body fat compared to Europeans, there have been very few studies in Asian Indians validating the various methods available for body fat measurement. The aim of this study was to test the validity of body fat measured by two commercial impedance analyzers (leg-to-leg and hand-held) as well as by skinfolds with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) as the reference method in a population based study in southern India. METHODS: Body fat percentage (BF%) was measured in 162 South Indian urban men (n=76) and women (n=86) randomly selected from the "Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study" (CURES), an ongoing population based study of a representative population of Chennai. The mean age of the subjects was 45.1 +/- 9.0 years and the body mass index ranged from 16.4 - 34.4 kg/m2. Percentage body fat was measured using DEXA, segmental impedance (leg-to-leg: BF%IMP-LEG; and hand-held BF%IMP-HAND) using the manufacturer's software and skinfolds using the prediction equation from the literature (BF%SKFD). RESULTS: Body fat (%) determined by the leg-to-leg method (BF%IMP-LEG 35.10 +/- 7.26) and the skinfolds (BF%SKFD 35.77 +/- 6.06) did not differ significantly from the reference method DEXA (BF%DEXA 35.82 +/- 8.33), but the hand-held impedance method (BF%IMP-HAND 31.38 +/- 6.24) showed significant difference (p < 0.001). The bias for estimation of body fat (%) for the bioimpedance leg-to-leg, hand-held and skinfolds were 0.73 +/- 5.70, 4.45 +/- 4.83 and 0.06 +/- 5.86 respectively. All the three methods showed a fairly good correlation with DEXA (BF%IMP-LEG: r = 0.741, p<0.001; BF%IMP-HAND: r = 0.817, p< 0.001; BF%SKFD: r 0.710, p< 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study shows that in urban south Indians, measurement of body fat by the leg-to-leg impedance and the skinfold method have better agreement (lower bias) with DEXA than the hand-held impedance. However, all three methods (skinfolds, the leg-to-leg bioelectric impedance and hand-held impedance) show a fairly good correlation with DEXA.